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RANKIN INLET, Nunavut — Two headlines sharing the front page of a local Nunavut newspaper say a lot about the Far North.

"Arctic Training Centre at Resolute blessed by elder," reads one, touting a new $25-million Canadian Forces' centre that opened earlier this month. Above it: "Taking anger to street: Feed My Family Facebook group wants message on high cost of food to be heard across Nunavut."

Yes, Prime Minister Stephen Harper has strengthened the military presence in the Arctic. Yes, he wants to create more jobs here to spur economic growth.

But it's also true there are big social problems here, such as the very high cost of living and the astronomical suicide rate.

The same week the Canadian Forces opened its new facility in Resolute Bay another Nunavut community, Repulse Bay, was grieving the suicide of an 11-year-old boy.

And a spate of suicides rocked a Baffin Island community in May. First a teen reportedly shot himself on the airport's runway. Then a 13-year-old girl and her grandmother killed themselves in quick succession as well.

According to Statistics Canada, Nunavut's suicide rate stands at around 65 per 100,000 people. The national average is 11.5.

While the other territories have far lower suicide rates (the Northwest Territories' was 16 per 100,000 and Yukon's was 5.9 in 2009), the cost of living throughout the region is sky-high.

In Rankin Inlet on Thursday, a 12-pack of Coke cost $23.99 at the local Co-op. A bottle of ketchup? $8. Some families complain that biweekly grocery bills top $2,000 and housing is extremely scarce.

With a laser-like focus on mines and the military, some critics have accused the federal government of washing its hands of the social ills that plague much of the region.

Harper says not at all.

The government invested $100 million last year for social housing in the territories, and Harper was quick to point out Thursday his government added tens of millions in the budget last year for suicide prevention and mental health strategies here.

"We've been addressing all of those issues. We've put a great deal more money, for instance, into dealing with the high cost of food in this area. There are still significant challenges there," he said, adding some of the problems aren't federal jurisdiction.

"The Government of Canada, every single year, provides almost $1.5 billion to the government of Nunavut, which is the primary deliverer of social services in the territory."

While Harper admits more jobs won't solve everything, he does believe more largely private sector wealth in the farthest-flung communities will help.

"We know from the history of not just our country but so many other developed countries that economic development really is critical to social development," he said.

Terry Audla, the national Inuit leader as president of the Inuit Tapiriit Kanatami, believes there's some truth to that.

"We are number 1 for all the wrong reasons: the highest suicide rate, the highest dropout rate. Now how do we address that? That's the question," Audla said. "I'm confident that if resource development happens... In my opinion, the social ills will hopefully be diminished."

Audla and other Inuit leaders met with Harper here Thursday for what the Prime Minister's Office described as an "open, frank, and focused" discussion largely centred around the economy, jobs and Inuit land claims implementation.

Harper finished his weeklong tour of Canada's Far North with a stop at a large nickel mining complex in northern Quebec Friday.